Razor blade shave indicator



Jan. 18, 1966 P. D. sclAsclA I RAZOR BLADE SHAVE .INDICATOR Filed' Sept. 22, 1964 INVENTOR R D. 5cm s c/A ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,229,659 RAZOR BLADE SHAVE INDICATOR Peter D. Sciascia, 3 Parkview Road, Woburn, Mass. 01801 Filed Sept. 22, 1964, Ser. No. 398,169 Claims. (Cl. 116-135) This invention relates to a novel indicating device adapted to be incorporated into the handle of an other- Wise conventional safety razor for maintaining an accurate record of the number of shaves which have been obtained from a razor blade, to assist the user in determining when a blade has served its useful life and should be replaced.

The present invention is particularly advantageous in view of the recent development of the stainless steel safety razor blades which afford users a much greater number of shaves than could be obtained from the better grades of safety razor blades previously available. Accordingly, the present invention provides a device which can record a much greater number of shaves than could be indicated with devices for the same purpose previously known, without enlarging the overall size of a razor handle in which the recorder is incorporated.

Further objects and advantages of the invention are to provide a device which eliminates guess work in determining when a razor blade should be replaced, thereby minimizing unnecessary blade changes on the one hand or the use of dull blades lon the other hand; and to enable the user to determine which make of razor blade will afford the greatest number of effective shaves.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention i will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view showing the shave indicator incorporated into the handle of a conventional safety razor;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectional view, taken `substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 2 2 of FIGURE l FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view, partly in elevation, taken substantially along the line 3 3 yof FIGURE 4, and on a reduced scale relative to FIG- URE 4;

FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 are cross sectional views of the shave indicator on enlarged scales and taken substantially along planes as indicated by the lines 4 4, 5 5, and 6 6, respectively, of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 7 is an elevational view looking toward the inner side of one of the parts of the indicator.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, a safety razor 10 is illustrated in FIGURE 1 and includes a head 11 and a handle 12. The razor blade shave indicator, designated generally 13 and comprising the invention, is incorporated in and constitutes a part of the handle 12.

The shave indicator 13 includes a cylinder or barrel 14 which forms a stationary intermediate portion of the handle 12 and which may be formed integral with an upper part 15 of said handle, as seen in FIGURES 2 and 3. A

shaft 16 extends longitudinally within the barrel 14 and has an upward end abutting against an internal boss 17 which is formed in the upper end of the barrel 14. The barrel 14 has a lower end wall 18 which has a central opening 19 and an annular flange 20 extending outwardly therefrom around said opening 19. Shaft 16 has a restricted lower end portion 21 which extends outwardly through and is journaled in the opening 19 and flange 20.

A knob 22 is secured immovably on the outer part of the shaft portion 21, and the outer end of flange 20 abuts against an inner end face 23 of the knob 22.

The handle 12 has a knob 24 constituting its lower or outer end and which is a conventional part of the handle. The inner end of knob 24 abuts against the outer end of the knob 22 and the shaft portion 21. The shaft 16 has a central bore 25 extending from end-to-end therethrough and which aligns with a central bore 26 of the upper handle portion 15 which opens through the boss 17. A stem 27 extends from the knob 24 through the bores 25 and 26 and is journaled in said bores. The upper end of the stem 26, not shown,. is connected in a conventional manner to the head 11 for opening and closing said head for removing and replacing razor blades.

The part of the sha-ft 16, disposed above end 21, is provided with a spiral groove 28, the convolutions of which form a spiral land 29 which is substantially wider than the groove 28. Commencing adjacent the bottom, the convolutions of the land 29 have numerals 30 consecutively inscribed thereon commencing with "0 and concluding, as shown in FIGURE 3, with the numeral "4l. However, the number of such numerals could vary. As shown in FIGURE 3, each convolution of the land 29, is preferably provided with eight numerals.

The barrel 14 has a longitudinal extending slot 31. A window, designated generally 32, comprises an arcuately curved plate 33 which conformably engages the inner surface of the barrel 14 on opposite sides of the slot 31. The plate 33 has a rectangular opening 34 and a rectangular frame 35 which surrounds said opening and which projects from the outer convex side of the plate 33 through the slot 31. The frame 35 has a relatively close fitting sliding engagement lengthwise in the slot 31. The inner concave side of the plate 33 has inclined lugs 36 above and beneath the opening 34, which engage adjacent convolutions of the groove 28, as best seen in FIG- URE 2.

A pin 37 is slidably mounted in an opening 38 formed in end wall 18, and has a flange 39, adjacent its upper end, which rests on the upper or inner side of the wall 18 around said opening. A leaf spring 40 is secured at one end by a fastening 41 (FIGURE 5) to the upper side of the wall 18 and has a free end bearing yieldably on the pin 37 for urging said pin downwardly. As seen in FIG- URE 6, the top face 23 of the knob` 22 has a ring of upwardly extending rounded projections 42 which are disposed around the flange Ztl in spaced relation to one another, and between adjacent ones of which the lower end of the pin 37 is normally disposed. Eight projections 42 are provided to correspond with the number of numerals 30 on each convolution of the land 29.

The knob 22 can be manually turned in either direction for rotating the shaft 16 in either direction, and as the window 32 is confined to sliding movement only in the barrel 14 by the slot 31, said window will move upwardly as the shaft 16 is revolved clockwise, as seen in FIGURE 4, or downwardly as the shaft is turned counterclockwise. The knob 22 is initially revolved counterclockwise to move the window 32 downwardly until the 0 numeral 30 is visible through window opening 34, when a new blade, not shown, is applied to the razor 10. Each time the razor is used thereafter for shaving, the knob 22 is rotated clockwise one-eighth of a revolution for moving the window 32 upwardly in the slot 31 and for turning the next higher numeral 30 into registration with the window opening 34. This is continued until the blade is replaced to indicate the number of shaves which have been obtained from the blade, and the number of shaves which are obtained before the blade is discarded. Each time that the knob 22 is turned, the pin 37 is cammed upwardly by one of the rounded projections 42 pressing against the rounded lower end of the pin 37, so that the pin will ride over said projection into the space between said projection and the next following projection, for

latching the knob 22 and shaft 16 against casual rotation to insure that the correct numeral 30 is always eX- posed through the window opening 34.

The end wall 18 with its flange 20 may be secured in any conventional manner to the barrel 14 after the shaft 16 and the window member 32 have been assembled in said barrel and before application of the knobs 22 and 24.

Various modicati-ons and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to without departing from the function or scope of the invention, as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I `claim as my invention:

1. A razor blade shave indicator comprising a barrel constituting a fixed part of a safety razor handle, a shaft journaled in said barrel having a spiral groove defining a spiral land, said land having numerals inscribed consecutively on the convolutions thereof, said barrel having a longitudinal slot, a window member disposed between the barrel and shaft having a framed opening slidably engaging said slot and lug means slidably engaging convolutions of the groove, and a knob connected to the shaft beyond an end of the barrel for rotating the shaft to move the window member longitudinally of the barrel to bring different numerals of the land into registration with the window opening.

2. A razor blade shave indicator as in claim 1, and means releasably latching the shaft and knob to the barrel with successive numerals of the land in registration with the window opening.

3. A razor blade shave indicator as in claim 1, said knob having an end facing an end of the barrel and spaced therefrom, said knob end having a ring of spaced rounded projections, a pin slidably mounted in said barrel end, and a spring urging said pin outwardly of the barrel end for normally positioning a rounded end of the pin between the adjacent projections when one 0f `said numerals is in registration with the window opening, said pin end being cammed out of the space between the projections by rotation of the knob, the number of said projections corresponding to the number of numerals on each convolution of the land.

4. A razor blade shave indicator comprising a barrel forming a stationary part of a razor handle, a shaft journaled in said barrel, said shaft having numerals consecutively inscribed spirally thereon, a window member slidably connected to the shaft and to the barrel and having an opening for registration with a single numeral of the shaft, and a knob connected to the shaft beyond an end of the barrel for rotating the shaft to cause the window member to move longitudinally of the barrel for moving successive ones of said numerals into registration with the Window opening.

5. A razor blade shave indicator as in claim 4, and means for automatically latching the shaft and knob to the barrel when each successive numeral is disposed in registration with the window opening.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS LOUIS J. CAPOZI, Primary Examiner. 

1. A RAZOR BLADE SHAVE INDICATOR COMPRISING, A BARREL CONSTITUTING A FIXED PART OF A SAFETY RAZOR HANDLE, A SHAFT JOURNALED IN SAID BARREL HAVING A SPIRAL GROOVE DEFINING A SPIRAL LAND, SAID LAND HAVING NUMERALS INSCRIBED CONSECUTIVELY ON THE CONVOLUTIONS THEREOF, SAID BARREL HAVING A LONGITUDINAL SLOT, A WINDOW MEMBER DISPOSED BETWEEN THE BARREL AND SHAFT HAVING A FRAMED OPENING SLIDABLY ENGAGING SAID SLOT AND LUG MEANS SLIDABLY ENGAGING CONVOLUTIONS OF THE GROOVE, AND A KNOB CONNECTED TO THE SHAFT BEYOND AN END OF THE BARREL FOR ROTATING THE SHAFT TO MOVE THE WINDOW MEMBER LONGITUDINALLY OF THE BARREL TO BRING DIFFERENT NUMERALS OF THE LAND INTO REGISTRATION WITH THE WINDOW OPENING. 